Arsenal finally secure Sahin, will Navas and Tiote join him?

AFTER weeks of haggling, Arsenal and Real Madrid have finally agreed terms for Nuri Sahin to replace Alex Song following his move to Barcelona... or at least it seems they have.

According to the Daily Mail, the two clubs had been at loggerheads over the loan deal for the 23-year-old Turkish midfielder. Of particular angst to Real was the price Arsenal should pay if they wanted to buy Sahin at the end of the season. They were asking for “a fixed price” of £14 million, which the Mail says was vexing the Gunners. Now a compromise has been reached and Sahin will be arriving at the Emirates this week to begin his season-long loan spell.

But according to Sky Sports the interminable negotiations are still not complete, although Real boss Jose Mourinho was obviously getting as bored with the saga as Transfer Talk. He told a press conference in Madrid: "I couldn't care less if he goes to Arsenal, or Liverpool or Tottenham. I have no preference."

Sahin, if and when he finally arrives, might not be the only new face to rock up at the Emirates before the transfer window shuts. Metro, which has the uncanny ability to link Arsenal to a new midfielder every day, claims that Arsene Wenger has once again given up hope of signing Yann M'Vila from Rennes and has instead decided to focus his efforts on securing Newcastle midfielder Cheik Tiote.

Arsenal fans will have vivid memories of Tiote. The most spectacular moment of his career came when he scored Newcastle's equaliser against the Gunners in 2011 when they came back from 4-0 down.

Even more outlandish rumours are emanating from Spain, where the ever-reliable AS reports that Wenger is about to splash the cash on winger Jesus Navas. The 26-year-old, who plays for Sevilla, has long been admired by the Arsenal manager, and now he is set to offer £15m for the player after talking to his latest recruit Santi Cazorla, who reportedly raved about his Spanish international team-mate.

Just 24 hours after his agent claimed he could be on his way to the Premier League, Fernando Llorente has thrown a spanner in the works by claiming his has no intention of leaving Athletic Bilbao. Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester City and Juventus have all been tailing the 27-year-old in recent weeks, a pursuit seemingly encouraged by his agent, Carlos Arino Bajo.

But in an interview with Italian website Itasportpress.it, the fiery frontman rejected the idea of turning his back on Bilbao. "I don't know anything about the negotiations regarding me," fumed Llorente. "Right now I am just thinking about my team.” Pressed on whether he was satisfied with life in the Spanish league, he replied: "I am happy to play at Athletic Bilbao because I feel an important player and I would like to continue here."

Talksport reports that Marseille full-back Cesar Azpilicueta is on the brink of a move to Stamford Bridge. Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo has been desperately seeking a suitable right-back following the departure of Jose Bosingwa in May and it appears he’s found his man.

Azpilicueta was a member of the Spain squad that flopped in the recent Olympic football tournament but that hasn’t deterred Chelsea. Talksport claims that the 22-year-old has all but agreed terms to join the reigning European champions, and they quote him saying: "I know that my transfer may be helpful given the economic situation of Marseille, so it is a good deal for all parties involved."

Goal.com reports that Manchester City are in “advanced talks” to sign Stevan Jovetic from Fiorentina. The striker comes with a £23.5m price tag but that’s not a problem for the Sky Blues who are still smarting at seeing Robin van Persie join Manchester United last week.

With Sergio Aguero out with a knee injury sustained in the opening day’s victory over Southampton, City boss Roberto Mancini is anxious to beef up his strike force before the transfer deadline expires at the end of next week. Goal.com say that negotiations between City and Fiorentina are going well and the 22-year-old Jovetic is expected to arrive at the Etihad within the next few days.

Finally, the BBC reports that Emmanuel Adebayor has completed a £5m move to Tottenham Hotspur from Manchester City. The Togo frontman spent last season on loan at the Lane and was expected to join full-time once he’d sorted out a financial row with the Sky Blues.

That’s all done and dusted and the BBC quotes the former Arsenal striker as saying: “I am pleased to be signing for Spurs on a permanent basis after finally agreeing my departure with Manchester City... I really enjoyed my time here last season and I am hoping we can achieve great things together again.”

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still not clear if the price to buy next year has been fixed or not.if he returns back next term it is not a good deal.we are not real madrid's academy

Submitted by Sumit on August 22, 2012 - 10:34am.

Its a protective deal...if he's a flop he can go back to Madrid...but if does something really material to Arsenal Wenger will surely be contesting with Madrid to keep him....and his success at Arsenal might make Sahin to choose Arsenal coz he for sure will get more playtime....but for the moment i hope he does well and Arsenal win something...the squad looks terrific...only problem is its too fresh and brittle...!!

Submitted by peteaggrey on August 22, 2012 - 11:18am.

good news for all the arsenal fan

Submitted by miselo on August 22, 2012 - 1:21pm.

wow,superb!!waitin 4 mvilla now.we gonna make it.lets gunners

Submitted by arsenal on August 22, 2012 - 2:59pm.

If we get these players then it would be great. a midfield of tiote and arteta in the middle and carzola and navas on the wings. Giroud and podolski upfront.

Submitted by Kruuse on August 22, 2012 - 3:40pm.

i wonder why almost every gunners fan wants so many midfielders, i mean why??? arteta, diaby, coquelin, rosicky, cazorla, ramsey and even chamberlain... why do we need both Sahin and Mvilla.. we have quality there. 1 Midfielder is enough but i do not think it is necessary.. i am more in for a right/left back or maybe a attacker... I actually hope we replace Navas with Walcott, much more quality in Navas

Submitted by Kruuse on August 22, 2012 - 3:50pm.

We do not play with 2 strikers and Cazorla is the king on the attacking midfield position, we have enough wingers.. i agree you in replacing walcott with Navas

I personally dont want to see M'Villa. He was unimpressive during the euros, and i find it ironic, that most fans knock AW for buying french based players, but scream about buying this guy, who funnily enough is french based.

Do we need a DM? no. Arteta more than proved he could compensate the lack of a defensive minded midfielder as he more than covered for song last year when he went off galavanting. Jacks due back soon enough too, and he tends to be a deeper lying midfielder.

i am a arsenal supporter as well, and how can you seriously say that a recular in the french national team when he is fit is not quality, the french team has more quality compared to the english.. plus we have a wilshere coming back from injury, and Artetas role in this arsenal team has been the holding midfield position which he rocked last year... we have a very talented boy i coquelin coming up on the DM position.. some of you guys sound like man city or chelsea fans! buy buy buy

Submitted by Kruuse on August 23, 2012 - 8:05am.

i could not agree more with you.. i like your startimg lineup, glad to see the ox replacing walcott, i do think that gervinho have quality as well and should be considered for one of the two wing positions, he looks better this year..

Submitted by GoonerMac on August 23, 2012 - 12:31pm.

Gervinho for me is an off the bench player, as is walcott for the time being. Both the Ox and podolski have a better final ball than these two is my reasoning.

Walcott, i wouldnt sell as many others might wish for. Yes he's been around awhile but he's still only coming into the years where he'll mature and peak as a player, and every year he does actually improve. I'd maybe even consider seeing him try as a second string striker through the middle given the depth there is up front.

Submitted by JMS-AFC on August 23, 2012 - 5:51pm.

2012-13 team should be (fully fit)

ScezsnySagna Koscielny Vermaelen Gibbs M'villaWalcott. Wilshire. Cazorla Gervinho Podolski Replace Walcott with navas have mvilla as the holding player and swap Gervinho with the ox time to time and you have a beast of a team.